Haha. I am laughing because The Hollywood Reporter went crazy announcing that Warren Beatty‘s untitled Howard Hughes movie has a release date. It does not. In fact, when Beatty spoke on Wednesday along with New Regency’s Brad Weston, all that was learned was the film would be released in the fall.

I told you that two weeks ago.

What THR and others don’t know is the reason there’s no set date. Warren doesn’t want to take his film to festivals. There was a big request from Cannes, and he declined.

I asked Beatty recently if he would then go to Venice. He said, “Why would I do that?” Then I said, naively, “Then Toronto? Telluride?” He said again, with a chuckle, “Why would I want to do that?”

My guess is that Beatty will have Fox hold the movie tight, a la “The Revenant,” and spring it at the last minute. No festivals seems like it might also mean the New York Film Festival. And that would be it until a mid November release.

Beatty might rightly feel that a release too soon would dilute interest by the time of the Oscar rush in early December. He’s probably correct. Building up anticipation will be key to marketing this movie. It has to be unleashed at just the right time. Too early could kill it. We’ve seen this happen over and over.

Author

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.